All I want For Christmas Is You
by Penny Shepard
Summary: Christmas is here, and the team go away together to a small cabin in the middle of nowhere, so what mischief do our motley crew get up to?  Lots of lovely Christmassy surprises or two for all concerned :
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, yes you've guessed it, it's another fic from me. This time it's a Christmassy one to make us feel all festive yaaaay I'm so excited. Please review and let me know what you think, and Merry Christmas for when it comes round xxx**

'I'm looking forward to this.' Tony said excitedly as he placed his bag into the trunk of Ziva's car, with Ziva following close behind him.

'Yes I'm rather looking forward to it myself.' She replied as she also threw her bag into the car.

It had been decided that the whole team would spend Christmas and New Year together, given that most didn't have family to spend or wanted to spend Christmas with, so Jenny had booked a cabin in Virginia for everyone for a full two weeks.

McGee had been placed in charge of the shopping supplies for the two weeks that they'd be together. He held his very large shopping list in one hand and his shopping cart in the other, carefully guiding it round the aisles. He was grateful for the fact that he'd been smart enough to pack his bags the previous night, and couldn't wait to give Penny her present.

Abby arrived at Ducky's house with her bag in hand, black tinsel in her hair and festively decorated skull earrings in. She was very excited about the whole trip and about Christmas. Between her and Penny the whole team had known exactly how many sleeps, hours, minutes and seconds it was until Christmas day. She was going to be going in Jimmy's car along with Ducky. She just hoped he had enough space for all their luggage and presents.

As Ducky opened the door to the young Goth he was greeted by a blur of black as she lunged herself at him in a bone crushing hug.

'Hello Abby.' He greeted her with a slightly stifled laugh, but with a very large smile.

Over in Georgetown Jenny was once again sat on her bathroom floor next to the toilet, where she had been for the last twenty minutes. This had been a regular routine for the last two or three days and she knew exactly what could be causing her sickness, but didn't want to admit it for several reasons. Her first reason being that she didn't want to get her hopes up in case she was wrong, and her second reason was that she was terrified. She was terrified of being pregnant in case she lost it again, and she couldn't bear the thought of going through that pain again. Penny on the other hand had other ideas.

Knocking lightly on the bathroom door she was surprised to find that it was unlocked. She entered quietly and she couldn't help feel sorry for her mom. She was ghostly white and looked exhausted, but they both knew that the look normally passed by the early afternoon. Kneeling down beside her Penny placed a comforting hand on Jenny's back and handed her a long white box.

'What's this?' Jenny asked as she glanced wearily at her daughter.

'It's a pregnancy test.' Penny replied simply and felt a little annoyed at her mom's reluctant look. 'You have to find out if you're pregnant Mom, come on, this is what you and Gibbs have been waiting months for. I know you're nervous after the miscarriage and everything, but that only happened because of the explosion and the trauma, it wasn't anything due to you.' She said in an almost pleading voice.

Jenny knew that her daughter was right and she reluctantly took the pregnancy test from Penny's hand.

'OK you're right. But whilst I'm doing the test I want you to find Jethro alright?' She replied forcefully.

'Absolutely Madam Director.' Penny replied with a mocked smile, to which Jenny replied with an attempted Gibbs slap to the back of Penny's head, who managed to duck out of the way in time.

Penny disappeared in search of Gibbs, and found him putting suitcases into the trunk of his car.

'How long does your mother think we're going away for? Anyone would think we were going away for a month.' He said to her as she approached him, just as he was hauling another suitcase into the back.

'Ah well you know Mom, she likes to be prepared for every eventuality.' Penny replied with a smile. 'Anyway she wants to see you for a few moments.' She added.

'That sounds ominous.' Gibbs replied with a slightly concerned expression.

'Yeah well it might be nice…just go and find out will ya?' She replied impatiently.

By the time Penny had left and returned with Gibbs Jenny's five minute wait was up. She walked towards the bathroom door in a daze as she looked at the small white stick in her hand and felt the tears pricking at her eyes. She slowly opened the door to be greeted by an excited look from Penny and a confused one from Gibbs.

'Well…?' Penny asked.

Jenny looked at Gibbs with a broad smile and tears freely running down her face. He noticed the pregnancy test in her hand and looked at her with anticipation. Unable to speak she just nodded her head and threw her arms around him. He picked her up and kissed her passionately before placing her on the floor again to look at the test.

'I'm assuming this means I'm going to be a big sister then?' Penny said with excitement.

'Yes it does Penelepops, yes it does.' Jenny replied happily as she hugged into the man she loved as he lovingly placed his hand over her stomach.


	2. Chapter 2

One by one the team all left their homes and began the hour and a half journey to the cabin, following the directions Jenny had given them.

In Jimmy's car Abby had insisted that they play Christmas tunes, to put them in the Christmas spirit, which Jimmy had to quickly turn the volume down on when Abby's phone began to ring.

'Yaaaay it's Penny!' She exclaimed as she showed Ducky and Jimmy her phone. 'Pennla!' She shouted with excitement as she answered.

'Hey Abbla, you guys on your way yet?' Penny asked with equal excitement.

'Yeah we set off about ten minutes ago, what about you?' Abby asked.

'We're just setting off. Tony and Ziva set off about half an hour ago, but they said they will probably stop off at the services on the way there so we may stop for a bit if you're interested.' Penny explained.

'Sure I'll let Jimmy know. See you later.' Abby replied before she hung up.

'Wow Abby sounds excited, as per usual.' Jenny said with a smile, after hearing almost every word Abby had said.

'Well of course she's excited, it's nearly Christmas!' Penny replied with excitement and coyly hid her giddy smirk as her mom looked at her in the mirror on the back of the visor. 'And I'm uber excited because not only is it nearly Christmas, but Mommy and Daddy are going to have a Jibblette!' She added with even more excitement as she frantically clapped her hands.

'OK Penny you've been spending way too much time with Abby.' Gibbs said as he looked at her in his mirror with a smile, before glancing over at Jenny with a very happy smile at Penny's statement.

Affectionately he placed a hand on her thigh, which she placed her own hand over and rubbed a gentle circle on the back.

'Penny? What exactly do you mean by a Jibblette?' Jenny asked after a few moments of silence.

Penny sighed and rolled her eyes before shimmying forward as much as her seatbelt would let her, so that she was almost beside Jenny sat in the front.

'Well the term is "supercouple" which refers to a couple who are a popular pairing such as Brangelina for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, so when Abby and I were playing cupid at the start of the year we Christened you as Jibbs, you know Jenny and Gibbs becomes Jibbs. We did toil with the idea of naming you Jenthro for a while, but we decided Jibbs was better. So because Jibbs are having a baby it is a Jibblette.' Penny explained in a sort of jumbled ramble, resulting in Jenny and Gibbs shaking their heads at her.

For the next twenty minutes the journey was quiet with Penny reading a book and Jenny had fallen asleep. It wasn't too long after that they finally arrived at the services at the roadside, where Tony, Ziva and McGee were already waiting for them. Gibbs gently woke Jenny once he'd pulled in as Penny got out of the car.

She immediately approached McGee with a large smile and wrapped her arms around his waist, who in turn wrapped his arms around her.

'So where are Ducky, Abby and Jimmy?' She asked the group as Jenny and Gibbs joined them.

'No idea, Jimmy has somehow managed to get them lost.' Tony said with a slightly irritable tone.

'Ha was a bad idea letting Jimmy drive then. Has no one learnt that yet?' Penny replied with a laugh just as Jimmy's white Skoda pulled up into the parking lot, which resulted in a small cheer from the team.

Once they were all together they approached the small café in the centre of the lot. The "kids" all sat around one large table, with Gibbs, Jenny and Ducky sitting behind them. They all ordered drinks, burgers and fries from the young waitress who served them, and they chatted excitedly. Before long everyone was tucking into their food happily and gratefully. None of them had realised that they were so hungry until they began eating.

Penny was sat next to McGee, who had his arm draped round her as she cuddled into him lovingly. Tony and Ziva were also sat next to each other and had ended up in a sort of food fight, with Ziva trying to put some of Tony's fries into her mouth but him pulling hard against her arm. Abby and Jimmy were sat in kinks of laughter as they laughed with their friends.

Jenny, Gibbs and Ducky were sat in deep conversation and would occasionally look over to their juvenile delinquents with a smirk.

Before they left Jenny and Penny went to the restroom for a toilet break before the next leg of the journey. Although she hadn't been sick for a couple of hours, Jenny still looked a little fatigued and pale which concerned Penny.

'How are you feeling now?' She asked her mom as they stood at the sinks and washed their hands.

'A lot better than I did first thing, although I'm still not one hundred per cent.' She replied with a sigh.

'Aw poor you.' Penny said as she gave Jenny a loving hug.

'It's fine honest, I had morning sickness a lot worse with you.' Jenny explained.

'Really?' Penny asked with an apologetic look of grimace.

'It's fine though because you're all worth it, including the seventeen hours of labour.' Jenny added with a smirk and kissed her daughter on the head.

They both left the café toilets and headed out to the parking lot to re-join the rest of the team.

'Hey Mom, I'm going to go with Tim this time.' Penny said as she approached McGee's car, whilst Jenny and Gibbs walked towards theirs.

Jenny nodded her acknowledgement and then turned back towards the car, walking hand in hand with Gibbs. If she was honest she was really glad to have Gibbs to herself for a short while, especially since she was going to be sharing a house with the whole team for two weeks.

She gave a very happy and relaxed sigh once she was in the car, and Gibbs looked over at her lovingly.

'Everything OK?' He asked as he placed his hand over her stomach.

Jenny smiled at him and placed her hand over his, and he smiled at her with such happiness that she swore his face would break if he smiled any harder.

'Seriously, how you doing?' He asked with slight concern, knowing she had been so unwell before.

'We're OK.' She replied, referring to her and the baby. 'Can't believe it has finally happened.'  
>'I know, it's a surreal moment. Any idea how far a long you might be?' He asked.<p>

Jenny thought for a few moments before replying. She'd already done the math earlier in the day, but she did it again to make sure she was correct.

'Well if my calculations are correct, I think you will find Jethro that we have a Parisian baby.' She replied with a very large grin.

'Well that's a third reason to love Paris.' Gibbs said, resulting in a confused look from Jenny. 'Reason one; it's where I first fell in love with you. Reason two; it's where you said yes to being my wife; and three it's where our baby was conceived. What's not to like?' He asked as he leant over and brushed a stray strand of hair from her cheek, and ran a couple of kisses down her neck.

Turning her head towards him she cupped his face in her hand and gently touched his lips with hers, tenderly kissing him. As he pulled away slightly he rested his forehead against hers.

'I love you Jenny.' He whispered, and she smiled weakly at him.

'I love you too Jethro, more that you'll ever know.' She whispered back.

'But...?' He asked, sensing there was more behind her statement.

'There are no buts I promise.' She said.

'So why do I sense that there is something you're not telling me?' He asked.

'You make me happier than I've been in a long time, and now we're going to have a family of our own, but it just makes me think about how I through all that away six years ago.' She said sadly.

Gibbs thought for a moment and realised that Jenny was right to a certain extent. When she had left him after Paris, he thought he'd never see her again. He'd spent months going over every detail in his head, wondering if there had been something he could have done differently, something that he'd done or not done. As far as he was concerned though, she had walked back into his life and into his heart; they'd been given a second chance and they were now making the most of that opportunity, so there was no sense in dwelling on what happened.

'I don't want you to think about that. What happened has happened, but we've been given a new start. We've got too much to look forward to, to keep looking in the past.' He replied profoundly as he lovingly kissed her gently.

Jenny smiled and nodded her acknowledgement before Gibbs turned on the ignition. He reversed out of his parking space and they were once again on the road.


	3. Chapter 3

By the time they all arrived at the cabin it was beginning to get dark and had started to snow. The mountains around them were already covered, and the trees looked like they'd been dusted with icing sugar.

Each car stopped in the snow covered parking area outside the cabin, and each team member gasped with delight as they looked at the sight before them. They all climbed stiffly out of their cars and looked at the large three storeys high, six bedroomed wooden cabin in front of them. It had a large window from the top floor down to the bottom of the gable end of the building, facing the stretching mountains beyond.

As they all walked in through the front door, they were amazed by the sheer size of the rooms, and their beauty. The front door opened immediately into the living room which was made from solid oak. There was an oak spiral staircase towards the back wall of the room, behind which was the kitchen. Adjacent to the kitchen was the dining room which opened immediately onto the living room. The living room itself was large, with two three seater sofas and several armchairs dotted around an open fire.

After a few moments of silence, the "kids" suddenly looked at each other before making a mad dash towards the stairs, shouting who was going to get which room. They were stopped immediately in their tracks by a loud whistle. They all turned round to find Penny standing behind them, slowly removing her fingers from her mouth.

'Wow Penny, where did you learn to whistle like that?' Tony asked in awe.

'My dad taught me when I was like six, when he took me to my first baseball game. Anyway, now that you've had a little Shepard history lesson, perhaps you will all be so kind to let mommy and daddy have first pick of the bedrooms?' She said, receiving a grateful smile from a very exhausted looking Jenny.

The team sheepishly took a few steps back and allowed Jenny and Gibbs to pass them. They walked immediately up to the top floor into the room on its own. It was the largest room in the cabin, with a double four poster bed against the back wall, adjacent to a small bay window complete with window seat. Opposite the bed was a small wardrobe, chest of drawers and a dressing table. To the left of the bed was their own en suit bathroom, complete with a shower.

On entering the room the first thing Jenny did was to flump down onto the bed, almost falling asleep immediately. Gibbs smirked at her as he watched her sleeping form, and carefully placed their suitcase beside her to begin unpacking. He carefully placed their items of clothing in the drawers or in the wardrobe, occasionally stopping to look at the woman he loved.

Downstairs the rest of the team were still arguing about who was going to have which room. Abby had already sent Ducky up to choose his room, and he was grateful to be able to get out of the firing line.

Although the cabin was large and had six bedrooms, only three of these had en suit bathrooms. Jenny and Gibbs already had one, and Ducky had taken the only single room with en suit. That left only one double room with en suit. Given that Abby and Jimmy would be sleeping on their own, they had resigned their fate to getting a room without a bathroom, leaving Penny, McGee, Tony and Ziva to argue over who got the remaining en suit bedroom.

'Well I'm senior field agent, therefore Ziva and I should have the en suit.' Tony shouted as he raised his voice over the din being made by the others.

'Tony you always use the excuse that you're the senior field agent, so I think Penny and I should get the en suit room. Besides, it was her mom who arranged this trip.' McGee argued back.

'PROBIE!' Tony shouted as he chastised the younger agent in his usual tone.

Penny, Abby and Ziva rolled their eyes as the two of them continued to argue. The three of them quietly discussed their options before coming to a sensible conclusion. Abby and Ziva indicated to Penny to once again whistle to bring the arguing to a close. They all covered their ears and winced as the loud noise bounced off the walls.

'Jeezo guys you're enough to wake the dead.' Penny said, and smirked when Abby gave a little cheer of delight at that thought.

'Right we have decided that Jimmy should take the remaining en suit bedroom, then we will share one bathroom and you two can share the other.' Ziva explained calmly, indicating Tony and McGee.

'Wait, you expect us to share?' Tony stammered in disbelief as he pointed from himself to McGee a couple of times.

'Well count yourself lucky they're only making you share a bathroom DiNozzo.' Gibbs said as he made his way down the stairs.

Penny looked behind him in the hope of seeing Jenny, but was dismayed when she didn't appear.

'Where's Mom?' She asked hopefully.

'Out for the count I'm afraid. We'll be lucky if we see her again before morning.' He said as he joined them.

They all went their separate ways to their agreed bedrooms, with both Tony and McGee begrudgingly placing their toiletries into their shared bathroom. Once everyone was unpacked they all made their way to the living room, where Abby and Penny began to hang some tinsel and decorations. They did not, as yet, have a tree, but that was something Gibbs was going to do the next day. Until then the team enjoyed the rest of the decorations, with Ziva and Tony cutting out some snowflakes to stick onto the patio doors.

When the team tired of their decorating they gathered round to watch a Christmas movie, which marked the start of many movies to come in the two weeks that they would be together. They stayed up and watched the Nightmare before Christmas, because it was Abby's favourite, and then watched White Christmas, because it was, in Tony's opinion, a cinematic masterpiece. By the time they'd finished the time was going on for well passed one in the morning. Gibbs and Ducky had long since decided to go to bed, leaving "the kids" to it.

'Ok, ok, what about the time Probie ended up running through a car wash?' Tony laughed as the team discussed some of their funniest arrests and chases.

Tony sat on the sofa next to Ziva, his arm draped round her shoulders as she lovingly leant into him. McGee sat sleepily on the sofa next to them, a beer in his hand and Penny sat on the floor at his feet. She preferred sitting on the floor, resting her head against his legs. Abby also sat on the floor leaning against the coffee table. Jimmy sat in one of the armchairs next to the fire, something he was regretting as he became over hot from the emanating heat. They all sipped on their beers and laughed quietly, enjoying each other's company without a case getting in the way, or the need to urgently visit a crime scene.

'You know Kate would have loved this.' Abby said, referring to ex special agent Kate Todd.

'Who's Kate?' Penny asked as she took a sip of her beer.

'She is your predecessor. You'd love her Pennla!' Abby stated with excitement.

'Oh right cool. So what happened to her to make her leave our happy family?' She asked with curiosity.

'Well about a year ago we dealt with a murder on board Yankee One, you know, the President's airplane. Anyway, the head of the secret service was so impressed with her performance that he offered her a position protecting the President. She wasn't going to accept the offer originally, but Gibbs persuaded her that it was an offer too good to pass up.' Abby explained enthusiastically.

'Wow, she sounds like my kind of girl.' Penny replied with a laugh. 'Any chance she may be able to join us?'

'Well I could ask her tomorrow I guess. The only problem is where she would stay though.' Abby replied.

'I'm sure we could figure something out Abs.' Tony said thoughtfully as he tried to figure out a solution in his mind, excitement building at the prospect of their friend joining them.

As the early hours of the morning dawned, one by one each team member left for their bed. They were all very excited about their trip and about what adventures they could get up to; but for now the most important thing was for them to get some rest.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning the team sleepily made their way through to the kitchen, to find Penny already up and making breakfast.

'Morning guys.' She said cheerily.

'OK, what's up with this picture?' Tony said as he referred to Penny's cheery disposition, given that she was normally quiet and grumpy in the morning.

'Well what's not to be happy guys? There's only two more sleeps until Christmas; I'm spending it with eight people I care about and love.' She said happily, not mentioning the fact that the other reason for her happiness was because she was going to be a big sister.

She knew how much having a family meant to Jenny, and to Gibbs. After the devastation they felt from the miscarriage, Penny had been concerned about them both, but they'd bounced back and now their family was going to be complete.

Tony, Ziva, Abby and McGee sat round the table in the dining room, a plate in front of each of them in anticipation of the waffles and pancakes Penny had prepared.

'Wow Penny, never realised you could cook.' Tony said as she placed a couple of each on his plate, before Gibbs slapping him. 'Ow, what was that for?' He asked indignantly.

'For assuming that I couldn't cook. Shepard rule number two is never to assume.' She playfully scolded, resulting in a smirk from the others.

'Right I'm just going to take this up to Mom and Gibbs; I won't be too long.' She said as she lifted a tray full of pancakes, waffles, orange juice and coffee, with fruit tea for Jenny.

She climbed carefully up the stairs until she reached the top floor, and lightly knocked on the bedroom door. Listening carefully she heard Jenny shout from inside.

'Who is it?' She asked groggily.

'Room service.' Penny replied with a smile as she slowly opened the door.

Slowly Jenny sat up in bed, sleepily looking at her daughter, but smiled gratefully when she saw the efforts Penny had gone to.

'Wow I can't remember the last time you brought me breakfast in bed.' She stated.

'I can. It was two and a half years ago. Your birthday before you set off to Ciaro.' Penny replied, setting the tray down at the bottom of the bed.

Gibbs sat up beside Jenny and smiled with delight as Penny handed him his coffee. He took a sip and sighed happily.

'You make a good cup of coffee Penny. Will have to let you make it more often.' He said as he took another sip.

Penny playfully glared at him before replying.

'What is it with everybody today? First DiNozzo jokes about my cooking; now you're on about my ability make coffee, jeezo.' She replied playfully.

They both smiled at her, before happily tucking into their breakfast as Penny left them to it.

'How are you feeling this morning?' Gibbs asked her as he lightly ran a few kisses down her cheek and neck.

Turning her head to face him she kissed him seductively on the lips, resulting in his skin becoming covered in Goosebumps.

'I'm OK, for now. We'll just see how long this breakfast stays down for.' She whispered as she cupped his face.

'Well you just make sure you take it easy today, well, the next two weeks. This is your vacation as much as anyone else's, so maybe you could spend some of today with Penny; I know she'd appreciate it.' He replied, running his hand up her thigh.

She looked at him knowingly, a coy and seductive smile playing on her lips. She carefully placed the tray on the floor beside her, before Gibbs playfully grabbed her and dragged under the bed clothes.

Downstairs and the rest of the team were all now awake and gathered round the table, a frantic pace of chatter, and the passing of breakfast items from person to person. They were all in high spirits and discussing what they were planning to do for the day.

'Well there's a small town about six miles from here, I wouldn't mind exploring that at some point.' Penny said as she glanced at her friends.

'That sounds good to me Penny.' Ziva said.

'Yeah, mind if I tag along too?' Abby asked, resulting in an excited look from Penny.

'It'll be great; we can make it a proper girlie trip.' She replied with great excitement. 'What are you guys planning?' She asked Tony, Jimmy and McGee.

'Well Gibbs is going out to cut down a tree at some point, so I think I'll help with that.' Tony explained.

'Well make sure you don't decorate it, that job is reserved for me and Penny.' Abby explained enthusiastically.

The whole team disbanded from the table, as they made their way to their rooms to get ready, just as Jenny and Gibbs joined them.

They were both showered, dressed and ready to join in with the team's activities.

Jenny was wearing dark blue jeans, a black long sleeved polo neck top, and a fuchsia pink waterfall cardigan. Gibbs had dumped his signature style of jeans, polo shirt and t-shirt, for the more casual jeans and a UCLA hooded top.

'Morning Ducky.' Jenny said cheerfully as Ducky knelt next to the fire and began adding kindling and balled up bits of paper.

'Good morning my dear. How are you?' He asked in his usual happy tone.

'Just wonderful Ducky.' She replied, a large smile plastered on her face.

She was thankful that, for the first morning in almost a week, she hadn't yet been sick, and she was feeling a lot better and sprightlier than she had.

'Oh good you're up.' Penny said as she entered the living room from the hall leading to her bedroom.

'Yes we are, and we're raring to go.' Jenny replied with excitement.

'Wow Mom, I don't think I've seen you like this in a loooong time.' Penny said with a smile. 'Ziva, Abby and I are going into town for a little explore if you fancy joining us?' She asked.

'I'd love to; sounds like it'll be fun. We haven't been shopping together in a while.' Jenny replied.

'Hmmm, the last time was when I found out you were my mom.' Penny replied tonelessly.

The realisation of Penny's statement dawned on Jenny, and a little pang of guilt pained her. It had been nearly eight months since Penny had discovered that Jenny was her mom, and a lot had happened during that time. Their relationship as sisters had been very close, but their relationship as mother and daughter was even closer, something that Jenny was thankful for, and although their bond was now firmly cemented, she did still feel very guilty from time to time.

Penny noticed the look of guilt flicker across Jenny's face, and she realised that she'd touched a nerve. It was then her turn to feel guilty. Remaining silent she took a couple of steps across towards her and wrapped her arms round her waist, gently resting her head on her shoulder, just as the rest of the team arrived.

'What are you guys thinking of doing?' Jenny asked them.

'Well I was hoping to join Gibbs on his hunt for a Christmas tree. That is if that's OK with you boss?' Tony asked hopefully to Gibbs as he appeared with a large armful of wood for the fire.

'Yeah sure why not?' Gibbs replied.

'Jimmy and I have decided to go for a walk and explore the area.' McGee said happily as Jimmy appeared behind him.

'Hey guys, guys, guys!' Abby shouted excitedly as she ran down the stairs towards them. 'I've just been speaking to Kate and she'll be able to join us as of tomorrow night.' She explained with a small squeal of utter excitement and delight.

The whole team chattered instantly with excitement that their other friend and co-worker would be joining them. They all felt that their happy NCIS family would be complete with her arrival, and then their party could really kick off.

One by one they all said bye to each other as the girls disappeared off in Jenny's car towards the small town. McGee and Jimmy said off on their walk down the country track, which was snow filled and barely touched. Gibbs and Tony walked off into the woods in search of the perfect Christmas tree; with Tony on strict instructions from Gibbs not to mention a single movie on their trip otherwise he'd be left in the woods on his own to fend for himself. This left Ducky on his own to enjoy the peace and quiet to catch up on some reading that he'd been intending to do for some time. He settled back happily in his armchair whilst the fire crackled and popped, the heat emanating from it and around the room.


	5. Chapter 5

Jenny parked their car in the almost empty parking lot. The heavy snow had been pushed to the side of the lot, revealing the grey tarmac.

With excitement Penny, Ziva, Abby and Jenny all climbed out of the vehicle happily chatting away.

'So where we going to first?' Ziva asked.

They glanced around the town, seeing lots of brightly lit shops, Christmas decorations and lots of people milling around.

'Ooo I like the look of this shop.' Abby said as she grabbed hold of Ziva's hand and ran towards a shop displaying gothic ornaments.

Both Penny and Jenny smiled at them as Penny hooked her arm through Jenny's.

'Thanks for this Mom; it was a really great idea.' Penny said with delight.

'Yeah well everyone has worked really hard, they deserve a break.' Jenny replied.

'Ooo look at the wedding shop. Can we go over and have a look? Please, please, please? Got to start planning for your wedding.' Penny said with excitement.

Jenny hadn't given much thought to her wedding since she and Gibbs had gotten engaged. It wasn't that she didn't want to think about it, it was something that excited her more than anything else, other than her baby, but they had decided not to make any plans until after Christmas, and now with the baby on the way they'd decided to wait until after it was born before they even considered making plans.

Penny on the other hand had other ideas. Jenny could remember how Penny, ever since she was very little, always used to try and get Jenny married off. She always wanted her "older sister" to marry her prince charming, but she had also always been feircly protective of her. She would curse anyone who hurt her and would be the first to jump to her defence. Penny had hoped that Jenny and Gibbs would get married and "live happily ever after" when they'd been together in 99, and was disappointed when Jenny had informed her that she'd left him. It was something that she'd never understood, knowing that Jenny loved Gibbs more than anyone she'd ever been with.

It was for this reason that Penny wanted their wedding to be extra special. She was already going to be Jenny's maid of honor, and it was a duty that she had accepted with great pride.

Penny carefully dragged Jenny into the bridal shop to look at the many wedding dresses. Jenny had to admit that she couldn't wait to start trying some on, and she loved the idea that this was something that she could spend doing with her daughter.

'Have you had any thoughts about what kind of dress you'd like Mom?' Penny asked as she explored the many racks and looked at the many manikins.

'You kidding Penny? I've been planning my ideal wedding dress since I was five years old.' Jenny replied with a girly smile and giggle. 'But just so we are clear, I am not trying on or buying a dress today. The wedding is not going to be for at least a year.' She added.

Penny looked disappointed before twirling round with one in her hand.

'But they're so pwitty, you telling me that it wouldn't be fun?' She said in a mocked attempted at making herself sound like a five year old.

It was at that moment that Jenny saw the wedding dress of her dreams. It was a simple a lined dress, with very fine silver flowers sewn into the fabric. It had long flowing sleeves made from a light material, also with faint flowers sewn into them.

Jenny slowly approached the dress and looked for one in her size. Thankfully she found one and she carefully lifted it from the rack.

'Wow Mom that's beautiful!' Penny exclaimed as she joined her.

'See Penny this is entirely your fault. Now I'm going to have to try it on.' Jenny said with mocked exasperation, playfully winking at her daughter as she walked towards the changing rooms.

She briefly spoke to the store owner and asked her permission to try the dress on, and the middle aged woman nodded her head and showed her to the first changing rooms. Penny stood close by waiting for her to come out, great anticipation plaguing her. It was at that moment that the bell above the door rang, and they were joined once again by Abby and Ziva.

'What's going on?' Abby whispered.

'Mom's trying on a wedding dress. We only came in for a look but I think she's fallen in love.' Penny replied with some amusement.

After a few minutes Jenny re-appeared in the wedding dress, resulting is gasps from Penny, Abby and Ziva. She looked stunning!

'Wow Mom, you look absolutely amazing!' Penny stammered.

Both Abby and Ziva were speechless at seeing their boss and friend looking so stunning. They had previously seen her dressed to impressed, but they'd never seen her look as stunning as she did in that moment.

'You really think it looks OK?' Jenny asked as she observed her reflection in the full length mirror.

'Mom you're more than OK. Seriously, in that dress you're at no risk from becoming Gibbs's ex-wife number four.' Penny joked with a small smile, resulting in a raised-eye-browed-look from Jenny but also a playful smirk.

'Tell you one thing, it's as close to my dream dress as I'm ever going to get.' Jenny said as she twisted her body to look at more of her reflection.

'So are you going to get it?' Penny asked with excitement.

'Not today Pen. I did say I wasn't going to buy one at all when we came in if you remember.' She added as she raised her voice slightly to stop Penny from interrupting, also sounding like she was chastising a young child.

'Yeah but if it's your perfect dress, what happens if it's gone by the time you do feel ready to buy it?' Penny stated.

Jenny had to admit that Penny had a point. She desperately wanted the dress, and her girlie side wanted to go ahead and buy it, but her practical side told her that now was not the right time. She thought about it greatly as she changed back into her own clothes before exiting back into the shop.

'Is there any possibility I can reserve the dress until the fourth of January please?' She asked the lady behind the counter.

'Certainly. What's the name please?' The grey haired lady said.

Penny smiled with excitement that her mom had found her ideal wedding dress, and couldn't believe how quickly she'd found it.

'Right, now that that's done, shall we go and do some more shopping?' Jenny asked the trio of friends.

Elsewhere Gibbs and Tony found the perfect Christmas tree. It was approximately eight foot tall and five foot wide at its widest point. It would fit into the living room perfectly, but would take some getting down.

Gibbs cut away some of the lower un-necessary branches, whilst Tony laid out the netting they'd use to keep the tree together whilst carry it back.

'OK Tony, I'm going to start sawing with the small saw, and then we'll use the two-man crosscut saw to take it down.' Gibbs explained authoritively, although less authoritive than normal.

Tony nodded his head as Gibbs began to cut a notch in the trunk of the tree. It was thick, although not too thick. After ten minutes of cutting Gibbs was satisfied that they had a notch big enough and deep enough for them to use the other saw. They both took a side each of the cross saw and began sawing into the rest of the tree.

It was hard work, given that it was all manual sawing, something Tony was not used to, but after about fifteen minutes the tree slowly fell down onto its side and onto the carefully laid net.

'Good work DiNozzo.' Gibbs complimented and patted Tony's back, which took Tony aback.

He was not used to receiving compliments from his boss, but he knew that it wasn't because Gibbs didn't like him, far from it. The head slaps and the grumbles made Tony feel wanted, knowing that in some respects they were all signs of affection. But he wasn't complaining about the compliment either. He felt like a son receiving praise from his father.

Once they'd tied the tree up they began walking the mile and a half back to the cabin, Gibbs behind and Tony in front.


	6. Chapter 6

Jenny, Abby and Ziva sat around a table in a small cafe, whilst Penny ordered their drinks. Sat at their feet were their bags upon bags of last minute Christmas presents and discounted bargains.

'I can't believe you bought that sweater Penny.' Jenny said as Penny joined them at their table, hands full with the tray of coffee, hot chocolate and sandwiches.

'Why not? You can't beat a bit of Christmas cheesiness.' She replied as she set the tray down in front of them and handed each cup to their respective owner.

They were referring to Penny's decision to purchase a bright red sweater covered in snowflakes, and Rudolph, complete with a red nose and a Christmas hat with an actual bell.

'It's a proper nineties style bit of cheesiness.' She said happily as she sat next to Jenny.

'So what's Santa bringing everyone?' Abby asked with excitement.

'Well I believe I'm getting a new espresso machine, especially since mine broke last week.' Ziva said with a happy smile. 'What did you ask for Abby?'

'Well I've asked for the new Bloodsuckers album, a few more dog collars and my mom was going to get me a new electric guitar.' She explained with unfaltering excitement.

'God help your poor neighbours.' Penny said with a smile.

'What are you hoping to get Pennla?' Abby asked as she sipped her hot chocolate, resulting in a white cream moustache forming on her top lip.

'Well I've already got what I wanted for Christmas.' She replied cryptically.

'Which was?' Jenny asked with a raised eye brow.

'Well to be with all you guys, and for something else which will remain a surprise for now.' She explained, gently nudging Jenny in a way that Abby and Ziva did not notice. 'What about you Mom, what do you hope Santa leaves in your stocking?'

'Well like you I think I've already received what I wanted.' She replied with a happy smile.

Abby and Ziva could clearly see that there was something that the mother and daughter duo were not telling them, and they were determined to get to the bottom of it.

Elsewhere McGee and Jimmy began walking back to the cabin for some lunch after their walk. They'd walked a good few miles in the snow and into the woods, and as they approached their cabin they saw a large shed at the back. They realised that it was too big for one car, but was too small for more than one.

'Come on let's check it out.' McGee said as they walked towards it.

The door swung open as McGee pushed it open. The fresh smell of pine filtered through the air as the winter sun lit up the shed. Inside McGee and Jimmy found a large pool table and a darts board, and a few boxes of summer toys in the corner. Amongst the boxes were some outdoor Christmas lights, perfect for keeping Abby and Penny out of mischief, if they worked that is.

'Hey Palmer can you give me a hand please?' McGee asked as he began moving some of the boxes to the side.

'Sure.' Jimmy replied as he stepped forward to take a box from him. 'I didn't realise that this place was here. Will be great fun when the others get back.'

'Yeah it will; and knowing Penny she'll want to challenge us to a game or two without a doubt, and knowing Tony he will expect to win.' McGee replied with a smile.

'Yeah Breena is the same.' Jimmy said casually.

'Breena? Who's Breena?' McGee asked as he suddenly stopped looking in the boxes and looked at Jimmy.

'Oh Breena is my girlfriend.' He explained.

'Ah I see. So did you not fancy spending Christmas with her?' McGee said as he turned his attention back to the boxes.

'Well we've only really been dating for a couple of months, and she decided that she wanted to spend Christmas with her family.' Jimmy replied as McGee passed him a string of lights.

They unravelled the lights and began straightening them out, before taking them back into the house to plug them in. Just as they got inside Gibbs and Tony arrived with the tree, and they began hauling it through the patio doors, past the dining room table and into the lounge. Once the tree was carefully placed on the floor on its base with Tony and McGee holding it steady, Gibbs raided through one of the boxes he'd brought with him and found his tree stand.

'Can you two lift the tree whilst I place the stand underneath, then carefully place the tree inside it?' He said.

McGee and Tony nodded their heads in acknowledgement and followed Gibbs's orders. After a few minutes the tree was in position waiting to be decorated.

'That tree is delightful Jethro; Abby and Penny will be especially pleased.' Ducky said as he entered.

Gibbs smiled at that thought. He knew Abby and Penny were very excited about everything to do with Christmas in general, but were particularly excited about decorating the tree. Their reaction to everything festive made him smile, reminding him of Kelly.

The thought of Kelly and of Shannon at Christmas always made him feel resentful towards the festivities. For a long time it just reminded him of the fact that they were no longer with him, making him feel alone. Although he still missed them, and knew he always would, the fact that he now had Jenny in his life, and soon their baby to boot, meant that he no longer felt alone and dreading the holiday period.

As if on cue the girls all arrived home; a serious dent made into their bank balances, and their arms ladened with shopping bags. Gibbs was very happy to see Jenny and was desperate to spend a little time with her alone.

McGee and Penny were happy to see each other as well. She'd managed to get him a few more presents, just silly little things that had a few humorous meanings between them.

'Oh yaaaay you got the tree! And it's sooooo beautiful!' Abby said with an excited giggle as she admired the beautiful pine tree in front of her.

'I know right? I can't wait until we can decorate it!' Penny replied with equal excitement.

'Well you'll have to wait until tonight as it needs to rest for a while.' Gibbs said as he adjusted some of the branches, resulting in a disappointed look from the two girls.

That evening Jenny stood in the kitchen cooking the dinner as previously agreed. It was now pitch black outside and snowing heavily once again. The rest of the team were in the living room happily chatting to each other, and watched as Abby and Penny decorated the tree.

They had given everyone the strict instructions not to help with decorating, as they had specifically reserved that right for themselves. When it came to all things festive and acting like big children, they were just as bad as each other, and that was how they liked it.

Gibbs stole his moment to spend some time with Jenny whilst the others were otherwise engaged. Wrapping his arms around her waist he lovingly snuggled into her neck, making sure to acknowledge the baby as he did so.

'You have a really bad habit of distracting me whilst I'm cooking you know Jethro.' Jenny said as she snuggled into him, not really annoyed by his presence.

'Well I can always leave if you want.' Gibbs replied, knowing that she wasn't being serious.

'Did I say that?' She said with a smile and a raised eye brow as she glanced at him.

'I've been thinking about the baby a lot today, and I think we should tell the team.' Gibbs said bluntly.

'OK but I thought we agreed to keep it just between us until we know everything is alright, just in case...' Jenny said as she continued to stir the stew cooking in front of her.

'I know we did, but...' He began before being interrupted.

'Rule number four Jethro.' Jenny said quickly.

'That would only work if only we knew, but you forget that Penny knows. Not that she can't keep a secret, but it won't be too long before the rest of the team notice your morning sickness, and then it'll be very difficult to keep it secret. I think they probably already suspect. Besides, if anything bad was to happen, which I seriously doubt it will, at least we will have been able to bask in the joy for a short period of time with our friends.' He explained.

Deep down he was desperate to be able to share his news with the world, and he felt frustrated that Jenny didn't feel the same way.

'Well I understand that Jethro, but I'd much rather keep it between us just now please.' She replied as she pulled away from him and walked towards the sink to wash some of the utensils, but mainly to move away from Gibbs.

Gibbs felt the frustration rise within him, but he tried to remain as calm as he could, knowing that she wasn't trying to be deliberately obtuse but was afraid.

'Jen we've been planning this, and talking about this for months now, and it's finally happened for us. Don't you want to celebrate it?' He said softly as he walked over to her.

'Yes Jethro I do. But if something happens and I end up losing it…I don't think I could cope with it again.' She replied as the tears welled up inside her.

Deep down she, like Gibbs, wanted to shout their news from the roof tops, but her fear of losing her baby was that great that she couldn't bear the thought of getting too attached, just in case.

'I thought we'd already put your mind at ease about that? Yeah losing our baby before was a heart-breaking experience, for the both of us, but you just need a little faith that this time is different, this time this is it; we are going to have our baby, and we're starting our own family now and nothing is going to change that.' Gibbs said to her as he took her by the shoulders and looked deep into her eyes.

She couldn't say anything more to him, realising that he was in fact, as per usual, right about the situation. She had to stop letting her fear consume her so that she could enjoy her pregnancy, otherwise she was going to be miserable. She hugged into his chest tightly, forcing back any tears that were threatening to leak from her eyes. At that moment Penny walked in and looked at them both with concern.

'Ooo bad time, sorry.' She said as she went to head out of the door, but was prevented from doing so I by Jenny.

'No no it's not. Was me just being…' She began to explain before struggling to find the correct word.

'Hormonal.' Gibbs said, resulting in a smile from them both.

'Is everything OK though?' Penny asked.

'Yep everything is fine.' Jenny said with a large, genuine smile.

'Good. And I hope everything is good with flump.' Penny said as she approached her mom and spoke to her stomach.

'Flump?' Jenny said with raised eye brow.

'Yeah I don't want to say "it" all the time, so its pet name from me is always going to be flump.' She explained with a smile.

'I give up on you Penelepops.' Jenny said as she hugged her daughter. 'I think you're right Jethro; about telling the team I mean. I think we should share "flump" with them.' She added, stressing the word flump with a shake of her head at Penny.

At that moment they all heard cheering from the other room and they went to investigate. Standing inside the open doorway was a woman in a white coat with a red scarf and hat on. She was covered in snow and her face was ruby red from the cold.

'Kate I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow night.' Abby said with excitement as she went to hug her friend.

'Well they let me come early, and it's just as well they did. That snow is mental out there!' Kate explained as she stepped aside to show the team that in the few hours of darkness about four or five foot of snow had fallen around them.

Ducky took Kate's coat, hat and scarf from her and placed it on the coat hook by the door. Abby pulled her through to the warmth of the living room and introduced her to the newer members of team Gibbs. Now that they were all there their party really could begin.


	7. Chapter 7

After dinner everyone sat in the living room and caught up with Kate and shared any news that they had.

'Wow Abs the tree looks amazing.' Kate said as she watched Penny and Abby putting the finishing touches to their tree.

The tree was ladened with nearly one hundred brightly coloured baubles, four hundred white lights, tinsel and a gold and silver angel. They had also added more decorations throughout the house, and had soft Christmas music filtering throughout.

'I know isn't it fantastic? We barely have any tree left, and we still have to add the candy canes.' Abby said as she added yet another bauble.

Jenny and Gibbs watched everyone in silence, waiting for the right moment when they could share their news. They weren't sure when the right time was going to be; until Ducky decided that he was going to call it a night.

'Right everyone I think it's time that I bid you all a goodnight.' He said as he got out of his arm chair by the fire and began heading passed them.

'Actually Ducky, just before you leave, Jethro and I have some news that we'd like to share with you all.' Jenny said as she and Gibbs stood up to properly face their friends.

Ducky returned to the group and sat on the arm of the chair. Jenny looked at the anticipation on everyone's faces, and despite her earlier fears, she was genuinely excited about telling them and no longer felt that same fear consume her.

'OK…well…Jethro and I found out yesterday that we are having a baby.' Jenny explained as she stammered at first, but then found that the words came to her easily.

It was in that moment, as her friends and colleagues gathered round them to offer their words of congratulations, that Jenny realised that all of her previous fears were unfounded. Everything would be OK. For the first time in days she genuinely felt that she could enjoy being pregnant.

The whole team were ecstatic about the news. Once Tony had offered his words of congratulations to them both, he disappeared into the kitchen and returned with several glasses and a bottle of champagne.

'I think this news calls for a proper celebration.' He said as he poured the golden liquid into a glass for everyone.

Penny briefly disappeared before returning with a carton of orange juice, pouring it into one of the glasses and handing it to Jenny.

'Thank you Penny.' She said gratefully as everyone wished them all the best.

'Aw Pen's going to be a big sister.' Abby said with excitement.

'I know isn't it great? Now I get to be the bossy one.' Penny replied with a smirk.

'What's that supposed to mean? I was never bossy.' Jenny replied indignantly.

'No you weren't, but Heather always was. Still is for that matter; drives me round the bend.' Penny said with a smile.

'Oh yeah, I forgot you two were sisters before…well after…never mind.' Tony began to say before he caught Gibbs giving him the Gibbs stare.

Kate looked with confusion at Tony, who subtly shook his head at her.

After a few minutes Jenny downed the rest of her orange juice and placed the empty glass on the coffee table.

'If you don't mind everyone, I'm going to head to bed.' She said as she approached Penny and kissed her on the forehead before mounting the stairs.

'Yes I think it's about time I headed up as well.' Ducky said as he stood up from his position on the armchair.

'Ah wait a minute, we haven't figured out where Kate's going to sleep.' Penny stated.

'Oh yeah well that does pose a bit of a problem.' Tony said.

'Well why don't I take Abby's room, and Abby and Kate can take mine. That is if you guys don't mind sharing?' Jimmy offered politely.

'No I'm fine with that, if you are Kate?' Abby asked with excitement.

'That sounds good to me.' Kate replied with a yawn.

With that the team all made their way to their respective rooms, all exhausted after their day. Penny and McGee went into their room, and Penny closed the bedroom door. McGee was already laid in bed, as he sat and watched her nervously as she walked around the room, taking off her clothes in the bathroom before returning to the bedroom. She could see he was chewing something over in his mind.

'What's bothering you Tim?' She asked as she lifted the quilt cover and gingerly climbed in beside him, resting on her elbow.

McGee stammered as he tried to find the words to say to her, knowing what he wanted to say to her but not sure how to say it.

'Well…I…um…I've been wanting to talk to you about something…' He began to explain, resulting in a concerned and worried look from Penny.

'You're not about to dump me are you?' She asked quietly with a nervous laugh.

McGee sat bolt upright in the bad shocked that he'd given her that impression. Ending their relationship was far from the truth about what was on his mind.

'No…no…no, no that's definitely not what I'm trying to tell you. I'm trying to tell you…well…I love you.' He said finally as the words kind of stumbled out.

Penny was speechless. She had felt the same way for him for a matter of weeks, but had been unable to bring herself to tell him for fear he didn't feel the same. She smiled at him broadly and struggled to find her own words. After a few moments she placed her hands on his face, and pulled him towards her in a passionate embrace.

'I love you too.' She whispered as McGee held her tightly.

Upstairs Jenny and Gibbs undressed for bed. Jenny was still smiling happily as she stood in front of the full length mirror, half dressed and admiring her reflection. She placed her hand over her stomach and studied herself intently, puffing out her stomach as much as she could. Gibbs smirked at her as he watched her.

'What you smiling at?' She asked him without taking her eyes off the mirror.

'You. It's nice to see you happy though.' Gibbs said as he approached her and wrapped his arms around her waist, looking at her through the mirror.

Jenny sighed happily and placed her left hand behind her, caressing his face. He buried his face in the nook of her neck.

'Come on, let's get to bed.' He said as he stifled a yawn.

Jenny finished getting changed before climbing under the warmth of the cool sheets. Gibbs shuffled over onto his side and allowed Jenny to mould her body into his. As he wrapped his arms around her, they both drifted off to sleep in great anticipation of their future events.


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning Penny was up and about, enjoying the peace and quiet of being up alone. She glanced out of the window and was relieved to see that the snow had stopped, but a lot had fallen over night. The cars were covered and would be rendered useless, as they wouldn't be able to get them out. Not that this bothered Penny, she was looking forward to having a snowball fight.

She opened the patio doors and walked out on to the decking, which was sheltered by a wooden roof and had protected it from the snow. She sat in one of the wooden chairs, shivering slightly in the cold. She enjoyed being sat out in the fresh air though. She sipped on her tea and listened to some of the birds nearby, and watched as some of them fed from the bird feeder.

It wasn't too long before she was joined by Ducky, another early riser.

'Morning Ducky. Would you like some tea?' She asked politely.

'Good morning Penny. I'd love one please.' Ducky said as he sat down as she returned to the kitchen to brew some more tea for them both. 'You're up early.' He commented as she returned.

'Yeah I may not be a morning person, but I don't really like laying in either. It's a waste of a day to lay in all morning, besides it's Christmas eve and there's so much to do.' She replied chirpily.

Ducky chuckled as he sipped his tea, sighing happily at its refreshing taste, as Penny sat beside him. After a few minutes of quiet contemplation, Penny asked Ducky a question she'd been curious about for some time.

'Ducky, how did you come to be an ME?' She asked as she took a sip from her own tea.

'Ah well you see I originally wanted to be a GP whilst I was at medical school, and then I experienced an incident where I realised that the dead had a story to tell, and I felt that I had a responsibility to help them tell it.' He explained with a smile.

'Ah right. Actually I wouldn't mind sitting in on an autopsy.' Penny replied.

'Well I have it on good authority, that you and the other probationer agents will be joining me for a day in January; but I can certainly speak to Jethro and see if I can't have you down on your own.' He said, and she smiled at him in return. 'Although I should warn you that a lot of students…um…well let's just say that many do not hold onto their stomach contents. Something that your mother knows only too well.' He added with a smirk just as Jenny appeared in the doorway.

'Thanks for reminding me Ducky.' She replied with a small smile.

'Wait, you threw up at your first autopsy?' Penny said with a small smirk.

'Yes unfortunately I did. But in my defence, I was already suffering from the effects of the bug you gave me.' She said as she joined them at the table after Ducky gave up his seat for her.

Penny poured Jenny some tea, which she accepted gratefully, but with a slight grimace. She'd always preferred coffee, whereas Penny had always been a tea drinker. It was one of the only differences between the mother and daughter, but there were many more similarities between them than differences.

'Where's Gibbs?' Penny asked, knowing he was also an early riser.

'He is just grabbing a shower and then he is going to join us.' Jenny replied.

'How are you feeling my dear?' Ducky asked her affectionately.

Although her morning sickness had been better the last couple of days, she still appeared pale and felt a little nauseous.

She sighed and gave him a bit of an exasperated look. Although she was excited about her pregnancy, and was adamant that she was going to enjoy everything about it, she couldn't wait for the next trimester to begin so that she could say goodbye to the morning sickness. She remembered how bad it had been whilst she was pregnant with Penny, and knew that it had been a lot worse, but going through it all again made her wonder how she'd coped the first time.

'I'm not too bad thank you Ducky. I just need to rest and take it easy for the next few days. Although I do have a lot of organising to do; I mean I have to arrange a doctor's appointment and inform SecNav of the news. But the latter can definitely wait until after New Year.' Jenny said as she sipped her tea, just as Gibbs appeared.

'What are you all doing out here? Especially you, you'll catch your death.' He said as he greeted his friends and future wife.

'Yeah it is rather cold now. Shall we head in?' Penny said as she got up from her seat and was closely followed by the others. 'What are we planning to do today?' She added as she closed and locked the patio doors.

'Well from the looks of the weather out there, not very much.' Gibbs said as he looked out of the window towards the mountains, surrounded by grey clouds which looked thick with more snow.

'Well not to worry, maybe that means Mom and I will get to spend Christmas Eve together doing what we usually do?' Penny replied as she looked at Jenny, who had a broad smile on her face.

Ever since Penny was very little, Jenny always made sure that she went home to her on Christmas Eve, no matter where in the world she was. Their mother would always go shopping for some last minute presents and for the goose; and when their father had been alive he would disappear to a nearby bar for service men and women. This meant that Jenny and Penny got to spend quality time together; one of the only chances Jenny got to spend alone with her daughter. Penny had always loved spending time alone with, who she believed at the time to be, her older sister, and loved baking cookies, cakes and gingerbread men. It had become their tradition on Christmas Eve, and was something they had continued to do after their mother, Sarah, had moved to California.

'That sounds good to me.' Jenny said with an excited smile.

'What do you normally do?' Gibbs asked curiously.

'You'll just have to wait and see Jethro.' Jenny replied cryptically.

As Penny and Jenny sat in the living room, Gibbs and Ducky set to on starting the fire. The rest of the team were still asleep, having earned the much needed rest and break. After several hours though, one by one, they appeared fully dressed and ready to participate in whatever their day had planned.

It was nearly lunchtime by the time the whole team emerged, and they all sat round the dining table eating the lunch lovingly prepared by Kate and Abby. The team all sat round and chatted happily before "the kids" decided to go out and play in the snow, wrapped up with several layers to keep them warm. Jenny decided that although she would not join them, she would sit and watch them instead. She sat on the decking where they had sat earlier that morning, and Gibbs had insisted that she take a blanket to wrap round her. He'd also found an old patio heater which he'd cleaned up, and was now emanating a blissful glow.

Gibbs, Jenny and Ducky sat and watched as Penny, McGee, Kate, Jimmy, Tony, Ziva and Abby all began throwing snowballs at each other. What started as a free-for-all ended up with boys versing girls, and although the guys were strong, the girls all had deadly aim.

Kate and Ziva both aimed a snowball each at Tony, one hitting him in the face, and the other hitting him a great deal lower than that. For a few moments he was stunned into silence, only a small groan escaping from him. Kate and Ziva high fived each other, as they looked at him smugly.

Penny and Abby broke away from the snowball fight for a while, beginning to make a snowman. Abby pushed the lower half of the body around, forming a deep indentation in the snow, but still the ground was not visible underneath. Penny was pushing round the middle section, trying to make it round and even.

Once they were satisfied with the size and shape, they managed to place one on top of the other. Unfortunately for them, by the time they'd placed the two halves together, the snowman's body was already as tall as them both.

'OK so it's going to be really difficult to get his head on.' Penny said as she stepped back to look at their half completed masterpiece, her hands on her hips as she observed it.

'Hmm yeah you have a point. Didn't think this one through so well huh?' Abby said, just as they were joined by Gibbs. 'Aw, are you coming to help Gibbs?'

'Why not? It is Christmas after all, and I don't have my boat to work on.' He replied with a smile.

Penny and Abby made the head, which was then placed on top of the body by Gibbs. They then added coal for eyes and buttons, a carrot for his nose and twigs for the arms. Gibbs then disappeared briefly, before returning with a scarf, and Ducky gave them a hat to "keep his head warm".

'What are we going to call him?' Abby asked.

'Bob.' Penny replied simply.

'Bob?' Abby exclaimed with confusion just as they were joined by Jenny.

'Penny you name everything Bob.' She said as she admired their handy work.

'Yes well, Bob is a very good name.' Penny explained defiantly.

'Well it's good enough for me Penny. Bob it is.' Abby said before screaming as a snowball was launched at her, narrowly missing Jenny.

'Hey guys please watch flump.' Penny said as she stood protectively in front of her mom.

The others all stopped and stared at her briefly, wondering what she meant by 'flump'.

'Penny, what the hell is "flump"?' Tony asked.

'My new baby brother or sister.' She replied happily as she hugged her mom.

Jenny and Gibbs retreated in doors leaving the rest of them to it as they began another snowball fight. McGee threw one at Tony, but missed at hit Penny instead. She looked at him with a devil's glare before launching herself at him in a form of football tackle. McGee fell to the floor as they both laughed, with Penny landing on top of him. In retaliation he threw a small amount of loose snow into Penny's face.

Once they had regained their composure, McGee helped her up to her feet. Out of breath and feeling exhausted from laughing, they re-joined the group who had stopped throwing snowballs, and were now holding three red, plastic sledges.

They took it in turns to slide down the embankment at the back of the cabin, having races with each other, their laughs and shouts heard for miles.

They'd been outside for the best part of the day, and now the evening was drawing in fast, with darkness making it dangerous for them to continue. They all traipsed into the cabin, but were immediately halted by Jenny.

'Whoa, stop right there and take your shoes off before you even think about coming in here.' She scolded them.

'Yes Mom.' The whole team said, resulting in a happy smirk from Jenny.

Penny took off her boots and went to get changed into some clean, dry clothes, exhausted after the day's activities, but excited to start baking with her mom. Jenny was already in the kitchen with the ingredients laid out. For the remainder of the afternoon and into the evening they cooked and baked, making delicious mice pies, gingerbread men, a gingerbread house and cupcakes.

In the other room Abby and Kate could be heard playing Christmas carols and music, with everyone singing along.

By the time late evening arrived they were all sleepily enjoying the soft sounds of the music, and telling each other stories. They were all so preoccupied that they hadn't noticed that Ducky had disappeared. After a short while there was a knock at the door, and they all looked at each other with confused expressions. Given that they were all federal agents, they were all suspicious of the sounds, wondering who could be visiting them. Gibbs went to answer the door but was relieved with what he saw as he stepped aside.

'Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas.' Ducky said as he entered the living room from outside, covered in a light layer of fresh snow, dressed as Santa, complete with a beard and a bright red sack.

Santa Ducky dragged the bag into the living room, and looked at everyone's smiling faces. He opened the bag and pulled out a present for each of his friends from him, calling out their names as he did so.

'Are we allowed to open these now Du…erm…I mean Santa?' Penny asked gleefully.

'Yes absolutely.' Santa said.

The room soon filled with the sound of ripping paper as they each tore into their present. They were all thrilled to receive their first presents of the holidays, and each were very pleased with what they had received. Once they had all opened their presents they each took it in turn to hug Ducky, before they all retreated to bed.

It had been a very eventful day for them all, but it was a Christmas Eve that none of them would forget in a hurry. Now though it was time for them to get some much needed sleep, and to wait for the real Santa to arrive.


	9. Chapter 9

Christmas morning arrived, and the team, for once, were all up at exactly the same time, but it wasn't a coincidence that they were, as no-one could sleep through Abby's cheers of excitement. She ran through the house banging on everyone's door and shouting for them to get up.

'Come on everyone, time to get up, it's Christmas Day!' She shouted.

Everyone appeared at their doors, sleepily rubbing their eyes and wincing at Abby's loud voice. They all made their way into the living room, and found the tree ladened with presents underneath. The sound of ripping paper once again filled the air, as they all excitedly opened their presents.

Jenny opened her presents from Gibbs, and suspected that Penny had helped him with the choosing of them. She opened the first of three presents, revealing a velvet box. Inside was a stunning diamond necklace on a silver chain, with matching earrings. The second present was a deep purple scarf, which she recognised from a small Paris boutique which she used to frequent during her time there. The third and final present from him was three of her favourite films. She was delighted with them.

Penny then handed her own present to her mother, telling her to open it next. Doing as she was told Jenny ripped off the gold and red paper, and revealed a beautifully decorated photo album. When she opened it there were lots of photographs of her and Penny through various stages of their lives. Jenny was bowled over by Penny's present and all the thought that had gone in to making it. Whilst Penny was growing up Jenny was at University in New York for a few years, and then joined NCIS shortly after so she didn't have many photographs of her daughter, or of them together, although some were taken over the years.

'Thanks Penny, this is absolutely amazing.' She said as she hugged her daughter.

The others also opened their presents from each other and from their family. Ziva got her espresso maker; Tony received a lot of DVDs; McGee received some new aftershave from Penny and a few computer games; Abby got some perfume and a few new dog collars; Ducky received some new medical and psychology books, as did Jimmy. Gibbs received some new aftershave and hand tools, for which he was grateful.

Once all presents were opened and all the paper was cleared, they all went into the dining room to wait for their breakfast as Gibbs and Jenny went to prepare it. They were only having a light breakfast in anticipation of Ducky's Christmas dinner. Jenny brought out croissants, fresh orange juice, tea and coffee, which they all happily tucked into.

'This has been one of my best Christmases ever!' Abby exclaimed with delight, and everyone agreed with her.

'It's been great so far, and we still have a whole week and a half left.' Penny replied.

'I can't wait until New Year. I brought some fireworks for us to set off.' Tony said with excitement.

Once breakfast was cleared away Ducky chased them all away from the kitchen, so they all went into the living room to watch 'It's a wonderful life'. Jenny went to lie down for a while, her morning sickness rearing its ugly head once more.

'This is going to be fantastic!' Tony exclaimed as he pressed play on the DVD player. 'It's a wonderful life is a cinematic masterpiece.' He added.

'Tony, every movie we watch with you is "a cinematic masterpiece" according to you.' McGee replied.

'Well McGrinch that would be because every film I suggest to you is carefully vetted by yours truly.' Tony replied as he slowly walked back to the sofa and sat beside Ziva.

The team sat in silence and watched the film intently, and didn't notice that Gibbs had left the room. He disappeared upstairs to check on Jenny and make sure that she was alright. He quietly crept into their bedroom to find her crashed out on the bed with her legs hanging over the side. A faint smile was playing on his lips as he watched her rest, before he carefully sat down beside her.

Looking at the clock on the bedside cabinet he realised that she been asleep for almost forty-five minutes. As previously promised, as she didn't want to sleep for more than forty minutes, he gently woke her up in the most romantic way possible. He leaned forward and began to kiss her slowly, before pulling away slightly as she began to stir. She smiled when she saw his face looming over her, and ran her hands through his short hair, pulling him forward for a proper kiss.

'That's certainly one way to wake up.' She said with a smile a minute or two later, resulting in smile from Gibbs.

'How are you feeling?' He asked with a caring and loving tone.

'OK I guess, could do with getting out for a little while though.' She replied as she slowly sat up.

'Why don't we go for a walk then?' He said as he took out his pair of walking boots from under the bed.

Grateful of the opportunity to get some fresh air, Jenny grabbed her snow boots and her thick, warm, blue ski jacket as she and Gibbs headed out into the cold. Luckily for them it had stopped snowing and the track road had been cleared at some point in the morning. Hand in hand they walked down the track in the direction of the town which the girls had visited a couple of days previously.

'I'm really glad we did this, it's been great spending it with the team. Although I have realised that it's our first Christmas back together, so I hope you don't mind that we've spent it with them rather than just the two of us.' Jenny said.

'Nah I don't mind. Christmas is a time for spending with family, and I consider them all as such. Just don't tell them that.' Gibbs joked, and Jenny laughed loudly.

They continued to walk passed the snow dusted trees, the beauty of which took Jenny's breath away. It reminded her of one of her Christmases as a child, when her mother and father had taken her and her sister Heather away to Aspen for a few days. The scenery there was also beautiful.

'This place reminds me of Aspen.' She explained to him as they continued to walk. 'That reminds me actually, I've been promising Penny for years that I'd take her skiing there.' She explained.

'You've also been promising her since she was five years old to take her to Disneyland in Paris.' Gibbs replied with a smirk.

Penny regularly reminded Jenny, and anyone else who would listen, about her promise to her, which, up until now, she had been unable to uphold.

'Well in my defence Jethro I did once fly her over to be with me whilst I was in Paris. She was there for most of her summer vacation, until I got called away to deal with emergency terrorist ops in Cairo.' Jenny explained with a small feeling of regret.

'I remember the long conversations you used to have with her on the phone when we were in Paris. That was when I first suspected there was more to your relationship.' Gibbs replied earnestly.

'I always wanted to tell you she was my daughter, but I wanted to tell her first. I should have told her as soon as Mom let her come live with me, rather than let her find out the way she did.' She replied, the guilt and anguish still evident in her expression.

'Yeah well at least she knows now, and despite your indiscretion, she very clearly loves and admires you. So I think you need to stop beating yourself up about it.' Gibbs said affectionately, resulting in a smile from Jenny.

As they walked down the country track until they came to a clearing at the top of a hill overlooking the town below, which was still a good two or three miles from their location. In the clearing there was a small church and a house immediately adjacent. They walked towards it and Jenny fell in love with the location immediately, realising that when the time came this was exactly where she wanted to get married.

'Wow this is absolutely stunning!' She exclaimed in delight, and Gibbs had to admit that he too was fairly taken with its beauty.

They explored the grounds before Jenny voiced more of her thoughts.

'Jethro this place would be perfect.' She said vaguely, resulting in a questioning look from Gibbs.

'Would be perfect for what exactly?' He asked.

'For our wedding. It's quiet and quaint, far enough away from reality for it to be our own special place, but not too far away. I think it's ideal.' She explained, but before Gibbs could reply they were interrupted by the appearance of the priest.

'Hello can I help you folks?' He asked politely.

'Oh we were just having a look really. It's a lovely church.' Jenny said.

'Yes it is. Although it's not the original church that was on this site. The original was built in 1884, but was destroyed by a fire in 1946. The church you see now is based closely on the original design though. Anyway, my apologies, you don't want to listen to me rambling on.' The priest replied.

'Oh no I find it interesting.' Jenny said with genuine intrigue, making Gibbs role his eyes with a smirk.

'Jenny has always been interested in buildings and architecture.' He explained.

'Well you can come and have a look inside if you like.' The priest replied as he opened the church doors. 'Did I hear you mention that you're getting married?' He asked.

'Um…yes you did.' Jenny said. 'This is the kind of my ideal place to get married actually.'

'Well if you plan to marry here you'd better do it quick, we're closing for refurbishments at the start of the year and will be closed for about two years.' He explained.

Jenny looked crest fallen at the thought, and Gibbs could see that she had her heart set on this church.

'Well why don't we get married now instead of waiting?' He asked her in an impulsive decision.

'What you mean right now?' Jenny asked in surprise.

'Well I don't mean right now this very second, but within the next week whilst we're here. That is if you can do it Father…?' Gibbs said as he spoke to the priest and waited for him to answer his question and give them his name.

'Oh it's Father Thomas, and if you're serious about doing this I can do it on New Year's Eve.' Father Thomas said.

Gibbs looked at Jenny in expectation, and she stared back at him in disbelief.

'Well what do you say Jen? Shall we do it?' Gibbs asked her, the hope and excitement evident in his eyes.

She found his excitement intoxicating and infectious and soon found her heart beat was racing in anticipation.

'Yes Jethro, let's go for it.' She replied with a very excited giggle.


	10. Chapter 10

After finalising some of the details with Father Thomas Jenny and Gibbs began to walk back to the cabin. Jenny was so excited about getting married in just under a week's time that she could barely contain herself. Gibbs felt exactly the same, which surprised them both since he'd already been married four times.

'I cannot believe that any of that just happened.' She said in stunned disbelief.

'Are you sure you're OK with it just being the two of us and the team?' Gibbs asked, knowing that Jenny had wanted all her friends and family to be at her wedding, and was worried that she was settling for second best.

'I'm more than happy Jethro. I know I wanted my mom and sister to be with me, and the rest of my friends and family, but this is more than perfect. At the end of the day, all that matters is that I'm marrying you and that I'll be surrounded by my closest friends.' She said as she turned to face him, the happiest smile firmly in place, and a magical glow in her eyes. 'They're going to freak when they hear this.' She added.

Although they both could have quite happily told the team there and then, they agreed to wait until after Christmas to give them the news. Jenny's cheeks and nose were rosy red from the cold; her hands were freezing and her fingers were numb, even though she'd been holding Gibbs's hand all the way home. She was grateful to feel the warmth of the roaring fire as they entered the living room of the cabin, and found Abby, Penny and McGee playing on their Nintendo DS's. Ducky was asleep in the armchair next to the fire, whilst dinner was roasting in the oven.

Tony and Ziva were sat together on the sofa, watching yet another one of his movies. Ziva was curled up beside him, her head on his chest.

'Wow you're all certainly quiet in here.' Jenny said as she took off her scarf and coat.

They all smiled in response to her, until the silence was broken by Ducky who had woken with a start and made a loud snorting sound, resulting in a laugh from everyone else.

'Where's Jimmy?' Jenny asked when she realised that he was the only one not present.

'He's in his bedroom on his cell to his girlfriend; has been for the last couple of hours.' Tony explained.

A couple of hours after their return to the cabin, dinner was finally ready. Jenny and Ziva helped Ducky dish it out, with Jenny taking charge of the vegetarian option for Penny and Abby. Ziva called everyone to dinner, and it wasn't too long before the sound of snapping was heard from the crackers that littered the table. Penny poured wine into everyone's glasses, with Jenny having the non-alcoholic version, which she found to be surprisingly pleasant.

As they all finished their starters, Tony excused himself from the table to go to the bathroom, leaving the others to continue their discussion.

'What's your first Christmas memory Ducky?' Penny asked.

'Well I think mine comes from when I was aged about four. Mother came home from visiting an elderly neighbour on Christmas morning, and my father had started cooking the dinner, but hadn't noticed that the gas system hadn't lit properly, so the oven filled with gas. When Mother opened the oven door and went to light it again it blew up in her face.' Ducky explained with a laugh, resulting in a laugh from the table.

'Was she alright?' Ziva asked with concern.

'Oh yes she was fine my dear, a little stunned perhaps but otherwise perfectly fine. The same can't be said for her singed eyebrows, hair and lovely mink coat; or for my father for that matter.' He added with great fondness.

'What about your fave Christmas song Pen?' Abby asked with enthusiasm, resulting in a small smile from her friend.

'If anyone dares say "whilst shepherds watched their flocks at night" I will Gibbs slap you into next week.' She said as she waggled her finger playfully at the group around her, just as Tony arrived back.

'So what are we talking about now?' He asked as he took his place next to Ziva, giving her knee an affectionate squeeze.

'Penny was just going to tell us what her favourite Christmas song is.' Abby explained, before giving Penny her undivided attention, but before Penny could reply Tony piped up.

'Wouldn't happen to be "whilst shepherds watched their flocks by night" would it?' He said with a laugh, resulting in Penny's hand immediately colliding with the back of his head. 'OW! What was that for?' He said quickly as he rubbed his head.

Everyone laughed at him whilst Penny sat and glared, before he gave up in even trying to make sense of his wrong doing.

After dinner they all retired to the living room, and Jenny grabbed Penny and took her up to her bedroom to share her good news with her daughter, unable to contain her excitement.

'Is everything alright Mom?' Penny asked with concern.

'Yes everything is fine. Am I not allowed to want to spend some time with my daughter without something being wrong?' Jenny replied with a smile.

'My bad, it was just the way you said you wanted to see me on my own that's all.' Penny replied as she laid down on Jenny's bed, as Jenny settled herself down beside her. 'Actually I am glad that I've got you to myself for a little while, as I have another present to give to you. It's just that I wanted to give it to you when we had a moment together, rather than in front of everyone else.' She added as she took out a carefully wrapped present from the pocket of her hoodie top.

'Aw you didn't have to get me anything else; the photo album was more than enough.' Jenny replied as she slowly sat up and began to unwrap the paper.

'Yeah I know, but...well it's just that...when I was looking through our photographs and stuff I realised that this is our first Christmas with you as my mom, and I wanted to give you something really special.' Penny explained as Jenny excitedly opened the box to reveal a stunning small heart shaped pendent.

'Penny this is absolutely stunning!' She said as she took it out of the case.

Engraved on the pendent were the words, "To Mom Love P x", and she was touched by their simple sentimental meaning.

'This will go perfect with my dress next week.' She said with joy as she held it against her.

'Why what's happening next week?' Penny asked as she sat up to look at her mom.

'Well that's what I wanted to speak to you about.' She replied with a smile. 'Whilst Jethro and I were out, we came across a little church in the middle of nowhere; it's perfect! So we've arranged to get married there, next week, just before midnight.' She explained, resulting in an excited squeal from her daughter.

Penny hugged her mom tightly, and they both looked at each other with excitement.

'Well you're sorted out for your dress, but what are we going to do about mine?' Penny asked.

'The bridal store is open again as of the 27th, so I'll take you, Abby and Ziva shopping and we'll get the bridesmaids dresses, and I'll collect my dress then as well.' Jenny explained, showing that she'd clearly given it some thought.

'Oh I can't wait; they're going to be so excited!' Penny exclaimed giddily.

'But you can't say anything to them yet.' Jenny replied with a look of warning to her daughter, but with a smile.

Penny agreed dutifully, before they began discussing what kind of dresses they were going to choose.


	11. Chapter 11

'Oh my God, this is so exciting!' Abby exclaimed the next day when Jenny pulled her, Kate and Ziva to one side and told them the news.

'I know, isn't it brilliant?' Penny said with an excited giggle as she sat on Jenny's bed.

'Yeah I can't believe any of this is happening, especially since I wasn't supposed to be thinking of my wedding until after the baby is born.' Jenny said with a smile. 'But I've got it all sorted, I think. I'm going to ask Ducky to give me away; Jethro is going to ask Tony to be his best man; and we're going to go shopping for dresses tomorrow, and to order the flowers.' She explained.

'And then they're going to get married just before midnight. What an amazing end to 2005, and an even better start to 2006.' Penny added with excitement.

Downstairs Gibbs had gathered they guys so that he could tell them the news and share his excitement.

'Jenny and I have decided to get married on New Year's Eve.' He said bluntly in his usual Gibbs way.

'Why Jethro that's great news, congratulations.' Ducky said as the first one to congratulate him.

'Yeah boss, that's really great news.' Tony said. 'Ooo are you going to have a bachelor party?'

'Erm…no DiNozzo, for two reasons, one I'm too old, and two I've already been married three times.' Gibbs replied with a smile at the younger man.

At that moment the girls came down the stairs and joined them at the dining table.

'Hey Penny, Gibbs just told us the great news.' McGee said as Penny approached him.

'I know isn't it fantastic? I can't wait until tomorrow now.' She replied happily.

'Why what's happening tomorrow?' He asked her.

'Ah that's for me to know and you to find out Timmy.' She said as she perched herself on his knee and tapped his nose, resulting in a smile.

'So what we going to do today?' Abby asked.

'Well there's a pool table out there that I've been dying to play since we got here.' Penny said to her friends.

So it was agreed that they were all going to have a tournament. They divided themselves into obvious pairs; Jenny and Gibbs, Penny and McGee, Ziva and Tony, Abby and Kate and Ducky and Jimmy. As they entered the barn they were thankful it had its own electricity supply, as Gibbs brought in a couple of small heaters. They had decided that they were going to play in pairs as opposed to playing two at a time; otherwise they'd have been there until next Christmas.

First up were Abby and Kate against Tony and Ziva. The others sat around and watched them, with Gibbs wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulling her into a tight hug. Abby and Kate were good, and between them they almost cleared all of the yellow balls before Tony and Ziva even had a chance. Finally Kate missed her shot and Tony stepped up to take his. Between him and Ziva they almost caught up. It was a tense moment when all that remained was one coloured ball each and the black ball.

'Come on Abs, you can do it.' Penny said encouragingly as Abby lined herself up to take her next shot, her face contorted in concentration.

They all held their breath in anticipation as she potted their last yellow ball, and then Kate lined up to take the last shot and hopefully pot the black one. She hit the white ball which rolled towards the black one, hitting it with force and sending it gliding into the far right pocket.

'Yes Kate we did it. High five!' Abby said as she celebrated their win as the rest of the team cheered.

They continued to play for the whole afternoon, and each team member was impressed by their skills, but the last game came down to Penny, McGee, Jenny and Gibbs. They all watched as all the balls were potted bar the black one.

'Wow I didn't know Jenny could play so good.' Tony said to the others out of the corner of his mouth.

'She knew how to play well long before I met her.' Ziva said in equally hushed tones.

'She learned from Jethro how to play, and he taught her well, but unfortunately she then passed her skills on to Penny.' Ducky explained as he recalled from his time with them in Europe.

'Why is that unfortunate?' Kate asked.

'It means that Penny is just as good as them.' He replied with a smile.

The group of friends laughed as they watched Jenny take the last shot, potting the black.

'Aw well done guys, good game.' Penny congratulated.

'Right well what do you say we all go back inside and I'll start on dinner?' Jenny said as the team all agreed and began to head out. She looked at Gibbs who was smiling and laughing slightly. 'What are you laughing at?' She said.

'You. You sound like such a…' He began to say before she glared at him in anticipation of what he was going to say.

'Mom.' Penny said from behind them as she tidied away the pool table.

Jenny looked at them both with a confused expression before she realised exactly what it was they were meaning.

'Ah…' She replied with a smile as Gibbs led her out by her shoulders, with Penny following closely behind.

That night the guys sat and watched a football match, whilst the girls sat round the dining room table and animatedly discussed dresses.

'Shhh guys, I don't want Jethro to hear.' Jenny said with a quiet yet excited laugh.

'I can't wait to go shopping tomorrow.' Abby said giddily.

'I can't wait until New Year's Eve; it's going to be so romantic.' Penny added.

'Well I hope so.' Jenny replied before standing up. 'And if you don't mind ladies, I'm going to get to bed. All this exciting is exhausting.' She added as she stifled a yawn.

'Night Mom.' Penny said as Jenny kissed her on the forehead before heading to bed.

'Who fancies a game of poker?' Tony said as he joined the girls at the table, holding up a silver case.

They all agreed that they wanted to play, and they played well into the early hours of the morning until they all retired to bed.

The next day Jenny, Abby, Ziva, Kate and Penny drove into town once again, and approached the familiar bridal shop.

'Hello, have you come to pick up the dress?' The lady behind the counter asked Jenny as she entered the shop.

'No actually we've come to choose some bridesmaids dresses.' Jenny replied happily whilst the rest of the girls looked around.

'Oh I love this one!' Kate said as she picked up a light blue dress.

'Oh that's really pretty.' Abby agreed.

Penny walked round the corner with Jenny close by as they looked at the dresses before them.

'Wow Mom look at this one.' Penny said as she lifted a burgundy dress from the rack.

The dress she held wasn't actually a dress, but was a strapless boned corset and a long skirt. Next to the dress was a matching burgundy shrug.

'Hey guys come have a look at this one.' Penny said as she called the others over.

'That dress is stunning.' Ziva said as she joined them.

All four bridesmaids disappeared into the changing room with a dress in hand, appearing several minutes later.

'Oh wow!' Jenny said as she saw the dresses. 'They're perfect.'

They were all in agreement about their dresses and they all loved them. Jenny paid for the dresses whilst the girls all went to get changed. They were all very excited about the latest development, and now they just had to wait four days until the big day arrived.


	12. Chapter 12

The next three days passed in a blur, with the whole team helping to make arrangements. They'd organised the flowers and decorations for the church; Ducky was going to give Jenny away, and McGee agreed to drive them in his car; Jimmy was going to drive the four bridesmaids to the church; and all the guys had booked themselves into a hotel for the night before, not wanting to bring any bad luck to the couple.

'Please don't stay up all night drinking Jethro. I know that the wedding isn't until tomorrow night, but I still want you well rested and fresh for it.' Jenny said to Gibbs as he packed a couple of items into his overnight bag.

'Don't you worry about a thing Jen. I will make sure that I am presentable tomorrow.' He replied as he kissed her forehead. 'I would just like to point out that I have done this before.' He added with a smile.

Jenny laughed with him as she realised he was right, before she kissed him passionately. She realised that it would be her last time kissing him as her fiancée. The next time she would kiss him he would be her husband, and she his wife. It was a magical thought.

Down stairs the rest of the team were in high spirits and were planning a New Year/wedding surprise for Gibbs and Jenny.

'Well I'll set it up tomorrow afternoon whilst it's still light.' Tony said to the group and they all agreed with his decision.

At that moment Gibbs and Jenny came down the stairs and joined them, his bag in his hand before he placed it by the front door with the others.

'Is everyone ready to go?' He asked as he entered the dining room.

'Yeah I think we're all good to go.' McGee said as he held on tightly to Penny's waist.

The guys all said goodbye to the girls before setting off to their hotel, where they were going to celebrate Gibbs's last night as a "free man". The girls retired for bed shortly after they'd left, excited for the next day's events.

'OK, so I want today to be enjoyable and stress free.' Jenny said the next morning as they all congregated in the kitchen.

'I'm so excited, and I guess one good thing about having a wedding at night is that we have all day to get ready.' Penny said as she hugged her mom. 'I kind of can't believe Gibbs will be my stepdad, it's kinda weird but in a really nice way.'

'Very true Pen.' Jenny replied with a very happy grin.

It had certainly been a rollercoaster of a year, with Penny joining NCIS; her finding out the truth that Jenny was in fact her mother and not her sister, as previously believed; the explosion at NCIS resulting in Jenny and Gibbs losing their first baby and then getting engaged; and the year was ending with her getting married to the man she'd always loved, with a new baby on its way in the new year.

She had to admit that at last her family was going to be complete in an event at the end of a momentous year.

'Well I think it's my turn to cook breakfast.' Kate said as she removed a couple of pans from their home in the cupboard and waved them in the air.

She ushered them all out of the kitchen for her little bit of "me" time to cook, and they went into the living room to put on a "chick flick".

They all sat on the floor around the coffee table with their coffee or tea in hand. Penny disappeared to her bedroom for a couple of moments, before returning with mud face packs and nail polish.

'I think a little pampering is required.' She said as she held them up in front of them, just as Kate appeared with plates of food.

'Brilliant, I'm starving.' Abby said which resulted in a small laugh from the other women.

They all tucked into their breakfast before turning their attentions to their beauty regime. Penny sat and carefully spread the cold, green mud onto Jenny's face, resulting in a small smile from Jenny which she tried desperately to conceal.

'Stop it!' Penny scolded. 'How do you expect me to spread it evenly with you smiling like a Cheshire cat?'

'Aw sorry Pen, was just the look of concentration on your face reminded me of when you were little and I used to let you brush my hair and do my make-up.' Jenny explained.

'Oh yeah, those were good days.' Penny replied before once again commencing the application of the mud mask, whilst Abby, Kate and Ziva helped each other with theirs.

'I bet you were a beautiful child Pennla.' Abby said as she concentrated on smearing the mud over Kate's face.

'She was the cutest thing imaginable. But I guess I'm biased seeing as I'm her mom.' Jenny replied with a slightly muffled tone to her voice as her face mask began to harden.

They all sat in silence with their film playing in the background, and waited for the time to pass before they could wash their faces.

Down at the hotel the guys were all sat in the restaurant eating their breakfast together.

'What about you Tim? Would you ever consider getting married?' Tony asked the younger man.

'Yeah of course I would.' He replied earnestly, but it was the first time he'd actually verbalised his feelings about the subject.

'Do you think Penny's the one?' Tony pressed with curiosity.

It was something that he had considered, and he knew that one day he was going to ask her, but the only thing stopping him was the fact that they'd only been together for a few months. He knew though that he would ask her within the next year.

'Yeah, yeah I think she is.' He replied proudly, before turning his attentions to Tony. 'What about you and Ziva? You're both certainly close.'

'We'll see.' Tony replied cryptically.

'So what's our plans for today?' Jimmy asked.

'Well there's only a couple of things to sort out up at the church that we couldn't do last night, but other than that the day is ours to do whatever.' Tony explained.

'We don't have to worry about getting ready until much later.' Ducky said.

'I bet the girls are already starting.' Gibbs said as he sipped his coffee.

In the cabin all five girls sat with their freshly painted toes warming by the fire, their faces mud free, and their hair in curlers as soft music played in the background.

'I always knew you two would get married.' Penny said to her mom.

'And how exactly did you know this?' Jenny asked her with a sceptical look.

'Because you were always writing home about him, and whenever you came home you always used to talk about him.' Penny replied with a smile.

'It is true Jenny; you did used to speak about him a lot.' Ziva added, reminding them all that she had spent some time with Jenny in Europe.

'Fair enough.' Jenny replied with defeat as she admitted to herself that she had always loved him, despite her trying to persuade herself after Paris that she didn't.

'Do you think you and Timmy will ever get married?' Abby asked her friend.

'I'd like to think so. I mean I've fallen for him hook, line and sinker, and I think he feels the same way for me.' She replied earnestly.

'Aw so we may have more wedding bells in the near future.' Abby cheered with delight at the thought, making Penny laugh.

The girls chatted for the whole afternoon about their love lives, sharing stories and advice. The guys on the other hand had been very busy after they'd left the hotel for the church to organise a few last minute surprises; but they were now heading back to the hotel. It was getting late and the sun was beginning to set, giving the sky a romantic glow. Just before they started to descend the hill leading up to the church, McGee stopped them all and asked them together so that he could take a photograph of them all.

They all huddled for the photograph, and they were all surprised that Gibbs didn't object. They realised that he actually seemed mellower and a lot less grumpy in the two weeks that they'd been away from NCIS. It was nice.

At the cabin Penny had the same idea as McGee. She'd already taken a few photographs earlier of them with their facemasks and curlers. As the day became night, she began taking lots of pictures of Jenny as she sat in the chair with her robe around her as Kate did her hair, a pair of hot curling irons in her hand, and clips attached to her jumper.

She curled Jenny's hair around the curling tong, including the extensions they'd carefully put in, and the clipped her hair back so it sat neatly around her face. Whilst Kate did her hair, Penny brought out her make-up box. It was very large and had all manner of things inside. Her daughter's choice in make-up always surprised Jenny, seeing as her daughter was never a girlie girl. Even as a child she'd favoured playing with the boys on the street rather than playing with dolls with the girls.

'Penny why do you have so much?' She asked as she watched Penny take out piece after piece and laid them on the table.

'It isn't all mine you know, most of it is yours.' Penny replied with a smirk, resulting in a small laugh from Jenny.

It took them a grand total of four hours to get everyone's hair and make-up done, and that wasn't including the twelve hours it had taken them since doing their facemasks and nails that morning. Before they knew it Ducky, McGee, and Jimmy arrived to take them to the church.

'Wow you look stunning my dear.' Ducky said as he admired Jenny standing in her wedding dress.

'Thank you Ducky.' She replied shyly, the nerves pulling at her stomach.

'Shall we go?' He asked her as he held out his arm for her to hold onto as he led her out, with them all taking the opportunity to take her photograph.

The three bridesmaids and the maid of honour left with Jimmy in his car, which was decorated with a ribbon on the front, and Jenny was helped into McGee's car, which was also nicely decorated. Ducky sat next to her on the back seat, as McGee got into the driver's side. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and Ducky patted her hand affectionately. She'd never felt so confident about anything in her life, yet she'd never felt so terrified at the same time.

She was worried about being a good mother and a good wife, and she wasn't too sure how to get over those concerns. She guessed that only time would tell.

McGee pulled the car up outside the beautifully decorated church, which had a path outside created from burning torches, and Jenny was surprised by their beauty, and by the two tall flower stands outside the front door. Ducky led her inside where the other four girls were patiently waiting for her arrival. Jenny could hear soft music playing in the background of the church, and as she peered through a tiny crack in the doors, she could just make out Gibbs and Tony standing at the front of the alter.

Once Penny had finished adjusting Jenny's dress, Abby signalled to Jimmy to change the music and they all heard Pachelbel cannon in D begin to play. One by one Abby, Penny and Kate all entered the church and walked down the aisle. Penny stayed with her mom for a few moments whilst the others walked out.

'I just want to wish you all the best mom. You deserve to be happy, and I know that Gibbs fulfils that happiness.' She said as she gently kissed Jenny on the cheek.

Jenny could feel the tears of happiness stinging at her eyes as Penny turned around and then took her turn to walk down the aisle, who winked at McGee as she went passed.

'Are you ready my dear?' Ducky asked as he once again held out his arm to her, which she gratefully took as they began to descend down the aisle towards the man she'd loved for so long.

Gibbs admired her beauty as she gracefully glided towards him. Although he'd been married so many times before, he had only ever felt this way once previously. He looked at her lovingly as she joined him. He couldn't stop looking at her during the entire service, and he had to bring himself back to reality every now and then to remind himself that this was actually happening, and to ensure he was paying attention to what was being said.

McGee and Penny stood next to each other and coyly held each other's pinkie. Every now and then she would glance up at him, and he would smile at her lovingly. She watched carefully as her mom and Gibbs exchanged vows, and gave McGee's hand a little squeeze when they each placed a ring on the other's finger. She also couldn't help notice Tony and Ziva giving each other coy glances every now and then.

They all clapped and cheered as the service ended with the traditional kissing of the bride, and Jenny and Gibbs smiled at each other happily before kissing again. They were led off to sign some paperwork whilst the others exited the church and went outside to an area that had been cleared of snow, chairs had been laid out with blankets on and a roaring fire. The team all grabbed a beer and sat around as they played music and stared at the stars.

'Wow this is the most amazing end to the year. I've met some wonderful people, gained a great step-dad and got the most wonderful boyfriend a girl could ask for.' Penny said as she sipped her bottle and sat on McGee's knee, just as the newly married couple joined them, just in time.

'Guys, guys, guys it's nearly midnight!' Abby said with excitement as she stared at her watch before holding her breath and began her countdown, quickly joined in by the rest of the team.

'10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…Happy New Year!' They all said in unison as they all kissed and hugged the person beside them, just as Tony disappeared.

After a few moments the sky was filled with loud bangs and bright colours as he lit some fireworks. They were all mesmerised by their beauty and was pleased to see that their old year was going out with a bang, and that the new year was entering with one.

They returned to the cabin where they partied into the early hours of the morning, and where they all made their new year's resolutions and promises to each other. Their family now felt complete…well almost, it would be once Flump had made his or her arrival into the world of NCIS.

**Sorry guys that this has taken so long to finish, hope you liked it anyways. Next story will be up soon with any luck, but thanks to those who have read and reviewed.**


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